2.6.13.1 kenel doesn't load usb mouse and network modules

Greetings lixerati I downloaded the latest stable kernel and built it. However, I'm forced to manually load the usb drivers (for the mouse) and the network drivers (sk98lin and other ip-related modules) before the system is at least as usable as with the previous ( 2.6.11.4-21.7-default) kernel. I tried several versions of the 2.6.13.1 kernel based on the config file found in /boot but I'm always forced to load these modules manually. Has anyone beaten this dragon? TIA & cheers